6. The Parental Abduction Kidnappings Often Relate To Custody

August 25, 1985|By Ann Moore of The Sentinel Staff

POMPANO BEACH — The stories Sue Ann, Laurie and Larry Stastny tell about being snatched by their father, living in a tent, being taunted by their stepbrothers and coming home seven months later with lice in their hair sound like scenes from a novel.

But the happy ending to the Stastny story has a twist. Although the children love their father, the experience has had lasting effects and their mother is wary of letting her ex-husband near the three youngsters.

Stastny, whose last known residence was somewhere in Denver, could not be reached for comment.

Forget, 26, had married Stastny, 39, when she was 14. After seven years they split up and their divorce became final on Valentine's Day 1984.

Sue Ann, Laurie and Larry Jr. were going camping with their father that July 13, 1984. It sounded like an exicting adventure.

The day Forget was supposed to pick up the children from their weeklong trip she received a one-page letter in the mail from Stastny. It said he was taking the children and he would ''get in touch with me when he felt the time was right,'' Forget said.

Though she doesn't doubt that her ex-husband cares for the children, Forget said she doesn't think he snatched them out of love.

Broward County support enforcement attorneys had just hauled Stastny into court in an attempt to get the $8,000 he owed. Stastny, who had remarried, was told that his employer would be required to take the money out of his wages if he didn't pay.

Stastny's response, Forget said, was to quit his job, sell his car, take the children and leave town.

At first they lived in a tent in El Cajon, Calif. Then they moved to Denver where they stayed with Stastny, his current wife, her sons from a previous marriage and her sister.

Laurie scowled as she related tales of the stepbrothers' treatment.

The boys, aged 14 and 11, would tie them up, stuff a sock in their mouth and leave them in the closet while their parents were away.

The children have not told their mother what, if anything, their father said about their being taken from her. They wrote her letters, but Forget did not receive them. Forget said she believed Stastny's new wife never sent the children's letters.

While the youngsters were bickering with their stepbrothers and catching their first glimpse of snow, Forget was contacting police and missing children agencies to report the parental kidnapping.

Pompano Beach police told her they could do little since her divorce decree did not address visitation rights.

The police recommended that Forget contact the state Missing Children's Information Clearing House in Tallahassee, Child Find in New Paltz, N.Y., and the Adam Walsh Child Resource Center in Fort Lauderdale. She did and they began spreading the word that the Stastny children were missing.

Stastny's current in-laws, who live in Tamarac, southwest of Pompano Beach, saw the youngsters' faces on a television announcement in February. They notified the couple in Denver and told them they had better return the children, Forget said. The children were returned.

The girls were ''kind of afraid I didn't want them back'' when they arrived on Feb. 16, Forget said. But they know now just how much Forget wanted them.

Sue Ann lost 20 pounds, Forget said. She has regained the weight and adjusted well, her mother said.

Laurie seemed to be the least affected by the ordeal and the most willing to complain about the treatment from her stepbrothers.

Larry had nightmares for the first two months after he returned, Forget said. He would dream about being kidnapped and he was afraid to be alone or in the dark, she said.

''I don't ever want to see him her ex-husband again,'' the mother said. ''I don't know what I'll do if I do see him face to face.''